Power On Virtual Machine from VMWare ESXi 5.x Shell

  • Open ESXi shell and press <F2> Customize System / View Logs and provide root credentials.
  • Select Troubleshooting Options and then Enable ESXi Shell.
  • Press <ALT> + <F1> to access shell and log in using root credentials.
  • Enter command: vim-cmd vmsvc/getallvms | grep <vm name>. The first column of the output shows the vmid.
  • Check the power state of the virtual machine with the command: vim-cmd vmsvc/power.getstate <vmid>.
  • Power-on the virtual machine with the command: vim-cmd vmsvc/power.on <vmid>.
  • Reboot the virtual machine with the command: vim-cmd vmsvc/power.reboot <vmid>.
    Reset the virtual machine with the command: vim-cmd vmsvc/power.reset <vmid>.
  • Press <CTRL> + <D> to log out.
  • Disable ESXi Shell  in Troubleshooting Options.

Source: http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1038043